A hospital says it has made “significant changes” after a woman died six days after being admitted with a broken knee from falling off her bike.

Ann Pearce, from Burgess Hill, was a healthy and active 61-year-old when she took herself to the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath following the accident.

The inquest into the 61-year-old’s death previously heard how Mrs Pearce had been in hospital for three days in April 2022 and had been seen by several doctors and nurses.

Mrs Pearce had expressed concern that she had a medical history which meant she was deemed at higher risk of blood clotting.

She was not given a blood clot risk assessment and was not been prescribed thromboprophylaxis – a treatment which prevents blood clots.

Three days later, Mrs Pearce called 999 from her home in Burgess Hill with chest pains. She was taken back to the Princess Royal emergency department, where she died from a pulmonary embolism – a sudden blockage of blood flow to the lungs.

The inquest into her death concluded on Monday, November 27, at West Sussex County Council’s Parkside building in Horsham.

Joanne Andrews, area coroner for West Sussex, Brighton, and Hove, called for a prevention of future deaths report, asking the hospital to revise its blood clot risk procedures for patients who are discharged.

Mrs Pearce’s daughter Wanda Clement said: “My mum was a healthy and committed nanna who had years of fun ahead of her.

“It has been really awful coming to terms with the fact that my mum did not receive the care that she deserved to receive when she broke her knee and there is a strong chance that she would be here now if she had received what she asked for. 

“My sister is a GP, meaning that she had a medical advocate on her side, and despite this she was still not given the medication she needed.

“Through the inquest most staff showed they had learned from what had happened. But in our view 20 months on there haven’t been sufficient changes put in place at the hospital to prevent this from happening to someone else. 

“We are glad that the coroner has called for change and we hope that new procedures are put in place.

“My mum was the glue that kept our family together. She was the best mum and nanna to three grandchildren and missed out on meeting her fourth grandchild, Joey, who was born three months after she died.”

Dr Maggie Davies, chief nurse at University Hospitals Sussex, said: “We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Mrs Pearce and are so sorry for their loss. 

“Our emergency department teams work incredibly hard under huge pressure and always try to provide the best possible care for their patients.

“Since Mrs Pearce’s tragic death, we have made significant changes to how we assess people at risk of developing a blood clot and have reorganised the clinical decision unit at Princess Royal to improve staffing levels. We have also updated training for clinical staff to make sure we continue to learn from this sad case.”